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Renzi's quick rise to Italy's PM unsurprising to many

Matteo Renzi, the man set to become Italy's prime minister in the coming days, will be the youngest person to ever hold that position. But that doesn't mean he hasn't been preparing for the job for decades.

ROME — Matteo Renzi, the man set to become Italy's prime minister in the coming days, will be the youngest person to ever hold that position, but that doesn't mean he hasn't been preparing for the job for decades.

The reform-minded Renzi turned 39 last month, an astonishingly young age in a country known for its geriatric politics. His predecessor, Enrico Letta, is 47, but the previous six prime ministers were on average 68 years old when they took office.

Still, Renzi's interest in politics and the nation's highest office date back to his youth.

"He's always been focused not only on what he wants, but on what he must do to get it," said Paolo Marcolisi, who wrote a biography on Renzi.

In describing Renzi, Marcolisi and others who know him and have followed his career closely use words such as ambitious, dynamic, confident, visionary and focused. He's been that way since his days as a schoolboy, they say.

The charismatic Renzi climbed the political ladder in Italy quickly and even jumped over a few rungs near the top.

Renzi formally joined his first political party at 21, the earliest possible age in Italy, and he was its provincial secretary three years later. At age 29, he won a landslide election to be president of the region that includes Florence and at 34 became that city's mayor.

Last year he became general secretary of the center-left Democratic Party and then fought to unseat Letta, a member of the same party. He did so quickly and effectively, and hopes are now running high in Italy that he'll be able to turn around the country's moribund economy, create jobs, reduce red tape and fix a broken political system.

As he's poised to move into Letta's office, the biggest criticism of him is his lack of national experience — he has never served in parliament, never held national office and never had to build a political coalition.

"Under normal circumstances, the lack of experience would be worrying," said Franco Pavoncello, president of John Cabot University in Rome and a frequent political commentator. "But Renzi's kind of unstoppable at this point. He thinks he can make things work the way he wants them to. And maybe he can."

Rank-and-file Italians are hopeful Renzi can deliver.

"Enough with these technocrats," said Marco Uccelli, 35, a newsstand owner, referring to Letta and his predecessor, former European Commissioner Mario Monti. "Let's see what a real leader can do."

Said 44-year-old office worker Sabina Nestico: "We finally have a political leader who understands a normal person's troubles."

Pavoncello predicts Renzi will succeed — not only in governing, but in changing Italian politics.

"He can be a transformational figure," Pavoncello said. "He could usher in a sweeping generational change. Young people have been left out of politics for a very long time, but now we may see the emergence of more and more talented people in their 40s."

Renzi has spent the week since Letta stepped down weighing options for ministerial and policy positions and gauging support in parliament. He says he will present his new government Saturday and face a parliamentary confidence vote that will make it official on Monday.

Then, according to Gian Franco Gallo, a political affairs analyst with investment bankers Hildebrandt and Ferrar, comes the hard part.

"He will have to start delivering on his promises quickly in order to maintain up the strong support from the public," Gallo said. "It doesn't get any easier from this point out."

Marcolisi said Renzi could run into trouble as he starts to govern, unless he can change his style.

"Roman politics involves a lot of deal making, and Renzi hasn't had to do that before," he said. "He's not easy to work with. He's a great visionary who is able to recognize what needs to be done. But he can also have a difficult time making it happen."